cant sell house need advice please

joeyblue_2

our house has been up for sale for 10 months, we are living with my partners parents in another part of the country, we cant drop the price anymore it wont cover the mortgage, we have a dmp which we are paying through the cccs, we cant keep paying the mortgage and expenses at my partners parents, we know it is unlikely anyone will buy the house during the winter, we are thinking that we should let the mortgage company reposses the house, we contacted the mortgage company they were not helpful at all, we are living in a box room at present sleeping in bunk beds, the stress is affecting our health, we are at our wits end what to do, we do not want to rent the house out, the rent wouldnt cover the mortgage payment, we moved because my partner got promotion, we were so happy, now its a nightmare, any advice offered would be appreciated,

pocketrocket1

i dont want to add to your worries but you do realise that if your house is repossessed the mortgage company are only obliged to get the best pricethey can.
i.e. your house may be on the market now at £100,000 it gets repossesses.

the mortgage company usually have three valuations for a REALISTIC (read quick) sale price

house goes on the market for £90,000
there are loads of telltale signs that a house is being sold by mortgageees if you know what you are looking for. because of these people put in lower offers

so an offer of £80,000 is given this is then advertised often in the press saying anyone wishing to offer more can do. This is ok so long as the first person that looked at it did not place the offer as any one else does so blind.

OK so we established that the original price was £100,000 and lets say the mortgage is for £95,000 but the offer recieved is for £80,000 that is an outstanding amount of £15,000 .

This amount does not get "written off" you will still owe it and all the admin and court costs on top.:eek:

sorry to be the doom and gloom merchant but just wanted to make sure you were aware of the consequences if you do take this route


pocketrocket1

madeupname1

joeyblue wrote: »

we do not want to rent the house out, the rent wouldnt cover the mortgage payment,

I don't understand this. If you rent it will be an additional income that you don't have now. Surely that will help with your financial situation if it isn't possible to actually sell the house now...

joeyblue_2

if we were to rent the property, we would have to lay out more money, ie gas/electric tests, landlord insurance, the lady next door has a house she rents it cost her a fortune to get the house legally passed for rental purposes, that is not an option for us

Bexm

OMG I really feel for you.. I actually thought you were my husband writing as we were in almost exactly the same situation! We're currently living with my parents as I got a good job at the opposite end of the country! And our house is on the market and we thought it was never going to sell!
Luckily for us out of the blue a few weeks ago someone turned up out of nowhere and put in an offer, which is now actually proceeding! (it will happen for you eventually.. I promise.. don't lose hope!)

Have you considered renting it to someone you know rather than officially.. (don't need all the certificates and what not then)
Do you have any friends or friends of friends who may pay you some sort of rent to live there for a while? Any income from it is better than nothing!

Have you tried it with a different agent? We put ours on with a second agent when we'd given up hope of the first one selling it but strangely the second agent didn't even get one viewing... it was the first who actually managed to sell it. (call it sods law... but it's worth a go)

Have you put your council tax on hold (you get 6 months exemption on empty houses) save some money. You can also switch to a no standing charge electricity tariff so you will barely be paying anything for that as noones living there. Same goes for water.

An option that wasn't open to us as we were shared ownership.. maybe you can sell it to one of those companies that just buys up houses? They might offer enough.. even if not, if you are left with a bit of mortgage outstanding it's better than having the whole lot!

I know it's difficult, but don't lose hope, and if you can help it dont let the bank repossess it if you ever intend in buying another house as I think you'll have difficulty getting a new mortgage after that.

Also try phoning your mortgage provider again to see if they can help.. I have spoken to numerous different people at our as I kept getting through to idiots.. I eventually got through to one who listened to me and gave the advice I needed! So may be worth you trying to speak to someone different!

Hope this helps a little!

Bex

g_attrill

joeyblue wrote: »

if we were to rent the property, we would have to lay out more money, ie gas/electric tests, landlord insurance, the lady next door has a house she rents it cost her a fortune to get the house legally passed for rental purposes, that is not an option for us

Have you actually approached a local letting agent to ask about the costs? The three you mentioned are pretty much it. I don't think your building's insurer will ask for much more to let it out, I doubt it will be much more than the contents cover you will not need to be paying now. I think you only legally need a gas inspection to let, although electrics won't be much if you did want to do it anyway. edit: You need an energy performance certificate, that is about £35.

The main thing is that as soon as you rent it you will be getting INCOME, and your overall outgoings will be significantly reduced, the costs in letting will be small compared to the loss you are making by not letting it out.

As mentioned, if you let the mortgage company repossess it then you will have to pay all their costs incurred in selling it, the mortgage up until it is sold, and the difference between the selling price and what you owe. It would be better to sell it yourself, even if it doesn't meet the outstanding mortgage - ask your lender what the options are if this is the case.

joeyblue_2

thanks to everyone for their advice,considering our options now, many many thanks

pocketrocket1

Bexm wrote: »

Have you considered renting it to someone you know rather than officially.. (don't need all the certificates and what not then)


Bex

:eek:


This is WRONG legally it doesn't matter who you rent to you still need to follow the law,

You do need a gas cert by somebody who is gas safe this can cost anything from £35 to £80 shop around. yearly requirement

You do not need a electrical cert
You should have the energy performance part of the HIPS (although not needed now to sell you do still need it to rent) costs about £45 and lasts for 10 years

You will need a contract can be found on many web sites I use landlord zone. or you can pay for one £5 - £??????????

All these you need by Law and if you fail to get them you could be in BIG trouble

Also if you take a deposit you have 14 days to put it in one of the government approved deposite schemes (you can also find details on the internet)

You will need to insure it if you let it unfurnished you only need buildings insurance as the tenant is responsible for their own contents insurance.

You will need to let your mortgage company know you are letting it.


This can all be done through an agent or by yourself. If you know the person fair enough otherwise as you live far away and cannot keep an eye on it or pop round to do maintainance as required I would suggest you find an agent you trust ( best one recomended by people who use them)

You could approach the council some offer a matching service i.e house and tenant, They agree to put up a bond that ensures the property is left as found and in some cases will pay rent direct to you. Otherwise do the usual credit checks (again on the internet cost between £10 and £50

It is not hard to be a landlord ( I do it all myself) but you must do it right and do the research or you could loose more than your home (in some cases your freedom)

Pocketrocket1

grey_lady

'we would have to lay out more money, ie gas/electric tests, landlord insurance'

As others have said gas cert is around £40 - you must have one, you can go to prison if you let without it. You dont need an electric test, you need an energy performance certificate for about £40 and you need to be confident that your electrics are in safe working order generally. To put the deposit money in the government scheme wont cost you anything if you do it yourself and landlords insurance is only about £10 a month.

You could then approach a council or housing association or advertise it privately or go through a letting agent (there will be fees wth the last one).

If you let it be repossessed as other have said you will still owe the difference between its sold for and what you owe - unless bankrupcy is a possibility? then you could still be paying it off for years to come.

Why not post some more about your financial situation and see if anyone can spot a way or renting or selling that would help.
I assume your goal is to rent a new place of your own?